Can someone please inform me about the types of orientations that people may have? I hope I don't offend anyone. However, I see a lot of different orientations that I'm very interested in hearing more about.
There is lots and lots of them, and I can't possibly remember all of them but I will list the ones I do know ^.^ Asexual - Doesn't really feel sexual attraction to anyone/isn't interested in sex Aromantic - Doesn't really feel any romantic attraction towards anyone Bisexual - Feels sexual attraction to people both male and female Biromantic - Feels romantic attraction to people both male and female Pansexual - Can feel sexual attraction to people of all genders Panromantic - Can feel romantic attraction to people of all genders Homosexual (Gay/Lesbian) - Feels sexual attraction to people of the same gender Homoromantic - Feels romantic attraction to people of the same gender Heterosexual - Feels sexual attraction to people of the opposite gender Heteroromantic - Feels romantic attraction to people of the opposite gender Polysexual/romantic - Feels sexual/romantic attraction to people of many, but not necessarily all genders. There is probably loads more but I can't think of them :lol:
It's not offensive - they can be confusing for a bit. First of all, there's the difference between sexual and romantic attraction. Asexual means a person does not experience sexual attraction. They are not necessarily celibate for a number of reasons. Some asexuals are also aromantic, meaning they also do not experience romantic attraction, but may still have "squishes" - like platonic crushes. Bisexual/romantic people are attracted to both males and females. Pansexual/romantic is quite similar; pansexual people are attracted to people regardless of gender (as I understand it, the difference is in attraction to non-binary people, but I'm not totally sure). Bi/pan people are often more attracted towards one particular gender. Homosexual/romantic (gay/lesbian) people are attracted only to people of the same gender. In contrast, heterosexual/romantic (straight) people are attracted exclusively to people of the opposite gender.
Well, it's really hard to give an exhaustive list (does an exhaustive list even exist?). Some of your confusion may come from the fact that people sometimes differentiate sexual orientation and romantic orientation (eg: panromantic homosexual, emotionally/romantically attracted to all but sexually only attracted to the same gender). Your sexual and romantic orientations may align, but not necessarily. Most common for sexual orientation: gay (guys sexually attracted to guys), lesbian (girls to girls), bisexual (attracted to both, not necessarily equally), pansexual and omnisexual (very close to bisexuality, the name literally means "all-sexual" and is meant to acknowledge more than two genders, but some bisexuals are also attracted to all genders). Genderqueer people may use different terms, since "attracted to same gender as yourself" doesn't necessarily speak to them. There's also asexual (doesn't experience sexual attraction), demisexual (sexual attraction is experienced only once an emotional bond is formed), and Gray-A (somewhere in between sexual and asexual), which I separated from the rest since not related to gender, in an attempt to make it clearer for you. Oh, and I've seen the term sapiosexual around here (attraction to intelligence?).
Keep in mind that an awful lot of the orientation terms used have have not been researched, and are generally not recognized by any of the professional groups (psychologists, social workers, etc.) This doesn't necessarily mean they don't exist; nonetheless, an awful lot of them aren't really orientations (which tends to imply hardwired and unchangable) but really are just shorthand descriptions of underlying psychological issues that manifest. For example, asexuality exists, but in a very, very tiny portion of the population. The majority of people who identify as asexual probably don't meet the clinical definition of it, nor have they actually been evaluated by any professional; they instead probably have family-of-origin or other issues that make it difficult to experience emotion and sexual attraction, which is very resolvable with therapy. The description for demisexuality is something experienced by a pretty large segment of the population, so labeling it separately is sort of pointless. And terms like sapiosexual, lithromantic, and the like are... just ridiculous. Absolutely no basis whatsoever in the research or literature to support those as orientations. It's no less ridiculous than trying to describe attraction to blondes or people with blue eyes as a sexual orientation. It's a fine line to walk between being supportive to people in identifying themselves in a way that is comfortable to them, and at the same time, not encouraging adoption of labels that can be restrictive and limit how one perceives him or herself. If someone wants to label him or herself as anything, no matter how unsupported that label may be from the perspective of having any rational basis, it is certainly his or her right to do so. But there's a pretty big line between supporting an individual's right to their own individual expression, and encouraging acceptance of labels that will very likely not stand up to any sort of serious scrutiny and will likely cause more confusion than they resolve.
This is a pretty good list. Also, let me add 'gay' and 'lesbian'. Gay means attracted to the same sex (romantically and/or sexually) and lesbian means a girl/woman romantically and/or sexually attracted to girls/women. So, a person who's gay can also be asexual or aromantic. It is rather confusing, now that I think about it. :lol: Also add in the nonbinary genders and defining your orientation can be even trickier. Hence, 'androsexual' and 'androromantic' (sexually/romantically attracted to men) and 'gynesexual' and 'gyneromantic' (sexually/romantically attracted to women).
This is so useful, I love it! This should be one of those threads that stay at the top of the forum, whatever they're called. (Or at least a similar post /thread)
As a pansexual person I would say that the best way to describe it is "gender-blind" or regardless of gender. So I think most of your definition is mostly true of polysexual people.Bisexual people can feel attraction towards non-binary, it doesn't really make the difference. I just basically feel as though gender doesn't matter. But that's just how I personally perceive my identity. Labels are defined mostly through how the individual defines them.
